A PRELIMINARY final spot is up for grabs as Melbourne takes on Sydney in a blockbuster clash at the MCG.

Reigning premier Melbourne started to find form late in the home and away season, but it faces a Swans outfit which is on a seven-match winning streak.

The Demons have been hit by a gastro scare ahead of the encounter, with coach Simon Goodwin and defender Michael Hibberd falling ill.

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Melbourne v Sydney at the MCG, 7.50pm AEST

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MEDICAL SUBS
Melbourne: Joel Smith
Sydney: Braeden Campbell

SUMMARY

The mere 2.6 percentage points that separates the second placed Demons and third placed Swans at the end of the home and away season sums up just how tantalising this qualifying final match-up is. The premiers in Melbourne are coming off a pre-final statement shellacking of Brisbane at the Gabba and should welcome back Christian Salem from a groin problem. There's a big watch come selection on key forward Tom McDonald after his strong return in the VFL following three months out. The Swans couldn't be more settled and confident. They'll almost certainly name an unchanged side for a third straight week and come into the finals off the back of seven straight wins.

Where and when: MCG, Friday September 2, 7.50pm AEST

WHAT HAPPENED THIS YEAR? 

Round 12: Melbourne 9.7 (61) lost to Sydney 10.13 (73) at the MCG

The Swans made everyone take notice of their flag credentials when they came to Melbourne and shocked the reigning premier. It was the Demons' first back-to-back defeats since round 16, 2020, and their 10th loss to the Swans in 12 matches. In the absence of Lance Franklin, the Swans were led by Logan McDonald and Sam Reid up forward with three goals each. Max Gawn dominated for Melbourne with 28 disposals and three goals but it was the Swans' 75 tackles to Melbourne's 53 that was a key factor, with Callum Mills and Reid leading the way with 10 apiece.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

Melbourne
The holy triumvirate of Gawn, Clayton Oliver and Christian Petracca will be out to assert themselves on an in-form and settled Swans outfit but one that is a touch light-on for finals experience. Oliver has averaged 30.6 disposals in his last five games against the Swans, with 19 of those contested possessions. Angus Brayshaw is another to keep an eye on, since moving into the midfield in round 20 he's averaging 31 touches with seven inside 50’s.

Sydney
What the Swans lack in finals exposure they make up for with serious scoring power. Lance Franklin averages close to three goals a game in finals at the MCG, Chad Warner and Isaac Heeney are both in the top five for score involvements since round 15 and Tom Papley is fifth in the AFL for goal assists. And then there's the sleeper in the Swans forward line in Will Hayward who has played every game this season, kicking 31 goals for the season has gone goalless just twice.

THE STATS THAT MATTER

Melbourne
Watch out for the fast start. The Dees blitzed Brisbane early last week and they've led at quarter-time 17 times this season – that's the most in the competition. They've got their clearance game back up and running as well – they average 41 points from clearances over the last four rounds – ranking them No.3 in the competition.

Sydney
Watch out for the big finish. The Swans have won the final term 17 times this season which ranks them No.1 in the competition, equal with Geelong. It's likely to be a hot, contested game and the Swans relish that kind of battle. They have the second best tackle efficiency in the competition at 67.3 per cent with Mills and James Rowbottom both in the top five for tackles across the season.

IT'S A BIG WEEK FOR… 

Melbourne
The uber-talented Luke Jackson looks certain to return home at the end of the season and he wants to go out with a bang at Melbourne. Sam Reid has done an excellent job as the second ruck at the Swans this season but if Jackson can put in a big performance alongside Gawn, they can potentially work over Tom Hickey and Reid and give the Dees a strong chance of dominating the stoppages.

Sydney
It's hard to believe this will be just game No.37 for Chad Warner. The Swans dynamo provides such an important point of difference in his side's midfield. Mills, Luke Parker and Rowbottom will undoubtedly provide the intensity in the contest but it's Warner who can break games open. He's the striker in the Swans' engine room, sitting eighth for score involvements in the AFL. He loves a big stage and if he can shine on this one, the Dees will likely have some concerns.

PREDICTION

Sydney by 10 points. This is an incredibly hard call to make as the Dees look back to their best and the game looms as another nail-biter. But the Swans are so incredibly settled, are in superb touch and crucially beat the Dees in their last encounter at the MCG. Tipping their bevy of matchwinners to get them over the line again, but only just.

THIS might be Sydney's September.

The Swans started this year as an exciting team on the rise but are now just one win away from the Grand Final after beating reigning premiers Melbourne at the MCG in Friday night's qualifying final.

Exceed expectations? Not their own. The Swans have hit this season with the type of confidence in their chances that makes the contenders legitimate and have been vindicated after they booked their first preliminary final at the SCG since 1996 with a convincing 22-point win. 

DEMONS v SWANS Full match coverage and stats

And the Swans did it with some of their key playmakers down, with Lance Franklin completely cut out of the game by a best-afield Steven May, star midfielder Chad Warner kept quiet (13 disposals) and gun goalkicker Isaac Heeney also held to limited influence. 

The Swans' six-goal third quarter was critical in the 14.7 (91) to 10.9 (69) win, with the Demons set to play Brisbane in next week's semi-final in a do-or-die clash with their back-to-back flag hopes on the line.

They are likely to be without James Harmes, too, after he was reported for a crude high bump on Jake Lloyd in the last quarter that flattened the Swans defender. 

Sydney plays with the tough, uncompromising approach that has become custom with the red and the white; but John Longmire's side is aggressive, fast and skilful, full of weapons.

Tom Papley was crucial with two goals from 15 disposals, while Luke Parker (25 disposals, nine clearances, one goal), James Rowbottom (24 disposals, one goal) and Cal Mills (23 disposals, one goal) were excellent in the midfield. 

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May was brilliant in blanketing Buddy, keeping Franklin to seven disposals and 0.0 while having 23 disposals and seven marks himself, while Clayton Oliver had 29 disposals, two goals and eight clearances. Christian Petracca had 24 disposals and played on after receiving a knock to his leg in the opening quarter. 

The Demons had the early advantage, breaking to a 10-point lead at the opening change. It came hard-fought: the game was tight and physical, with Heeney crunched in the starting minutes and Petracca, too, coming off second best with his knee issue.

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Sydney drew first blood through Will Hayward, but the Demons kicked four of the next five goals, with Charlie Spargo having an outstanding quarter, kicking one goal and setting up another few opportunities. One of those landed with Bayley Fritsch, who converted it for his second goal on the quarter-time siren.

Kysaiah Pickett's goal in the opening moments of the second quarter saw the Demons jump to a 15-point lead before the game flipped. As May controlled his match-up against Franklin, the Swans superstar found other ways to get involved in the game after a disposal-less first term.

The pair niggled and nudged until May gave away a free kick, which led to a goal for Hayward. It was the kickstart moment that ignited the Swans' charge and the first of four straight goals that saw them snatch back a six-point lead by the half-time bell.

BUDDY STILL BOX OFFICE He barely had a touch, but Franklin still turned the game on its head

Papley fed off the energy to sink a shot, Mills snapped one out of a pack and Dylan Stephens' long strike sailed through to see the Swans steal back the momentum.  

The Swans had gotten the game back on their terms, through the midfield drive of Parker and Mills, the speed and tenacity of Papley and the temperament and set up of the McCartin brothers, who went without touching the ball in the first quarter but tallied 13 disposals in the second.

Melbourne looked set for a repeat of last year's Grand Final when it went on a rampage at the start of the third quarter to boot three goals in the first five minutes, but Sydney weathered the storm.

Again it started through Papley with a sharp, classy snap, but the Swans' run of goals didn't come from usual avenues: Lloyd kicked his first this season, Sam Reid stepped up with two big set shots and even Tom Hickey floated forward to help the Swans to a 12-point break at the final change after a 35-minute and 11-goal quarter.

But it was only the Swans who scored thereafter, with Heeney's goal at the 15-minute mark of the last quarter stunning the Demons and sealing the Swans' next step.  

MELBOURNE                      4.1       5.4       10.5       10.9 (69)
SYDNEY                              2.3       6.4       12.5       14.7 (91)

GOALS  
Melbourne: Fritsch 3, Oliver 2, Brown, Gawn, Pickett, Spargo, Sparrow
Sydney: Hayward 2, Lloyd 2, Papley 2, Reid 2, Heeney, Hickey, Mills, Parker, Rowbottom, Stephens

BEST  
Melbourne: May, Oliver, Fritsch, Viney, Petracca, Langdon
Sydney: Parker, Lloyd, Rowbottom, Mills, Papley, Fox 

INJURIES  
Melbourne: Petracca (leg)
Sydney: Florent (ankle)

SUBSTITUTES  
Melbourne: Joel Smith (unused)
Sydney: Braeden Campbell (unused)